Promises
by stefancaroline
Summary: "Always looking out for me, right?" Caroline let out a shaky breath. "Always." He said, even though she couldn't hear him.


Stefan hurt physically, even though he was supposed to be a spirit.

He didn't see Caroline crying and screaming in the middle of the street for help. He was immediately attracted to Bonnie, the anchor to the other side.

But after he passed on, the first person he thought of looking for was Caroline.

He was scared out of his mind Julian had done something to her, but he found her crying in the back of the car they were supposed to get in.

Enzo could touch things, set cabins on fire and press people to walls with rocks and whatever, but Stefan couldn't even touch Caroline's shoulder just to let her know he was there for her. It was more than he could take.

Bonnie saw him there, sitting next to Caroline, and they locked eyes.

"Stefan's here." She said tenderly to Caroline.

"Where?" Caroline's voice sounded broken.

"Next to you."

Caroline wiped away the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Stefan. We're gonna get you back, I promise."

"She doesn't know?" Stefan asked Bonnie.

All it took was a look.

She did know. She just didn't want to believe it anymore.

"Tell her I know she'll try."

Caroline shook her head when Bonnie told her. "I'm not going to try, I'm going to do it. Whatever it takes. I promise."

He tried touching her hand again, but it didn't work. "Why can't I touch her?"

Bonnie shook her head.

It wasn't fair.

But he would do it all again in a heartbeat.

"Stefan died for me." Caroline said. "He kept his promise. I'm keeping mine too."

* * *

Stefan watched as Caroline told Damon and Elena of his death. Never in a million years would he imagine this situation.

He could feel Damon's anger, but Elena was optimistic.

"We'll bring him back, Care." She said as she held Caroline's hand.

"I know."

Stefan didn't know what was worse; him being dead, or Caroline's hopes of bringing him back. He didn't want her to hurt even more.

* * *

Caroline went to the graveyard.

"Are you here?" Caroline asked.

Stefan succeeded in throwing a leaf at her head. She laughed, and it made him feel less stupid.

"Thank you for what you did for me. I don't know what he would have done if you hadn't interfered. Always looking out for me, right?" Caroline let out a shaky breath.

"Always." He said, even though she couldn't hear him.

"This sucks. I want to hear your voice. I feel stupid talking to myself." She ran a hand through her hair while a nervous chuckle escaped her lips. "You know, everyone else, they always make me feel like I'm talking to myself. Not you, though. That's why this is so weird."

Stefan threw another leaf at her head, and this time she caught it.

"Funny." She smiled.

Caroline looked at the leaf in her hands and the smile in her face disappeared. "I'm trying to be optimistic here, Stefan. I really am. But you're _dead_. I know you'll come back, I know it. But what if you don't?"

Stefan wanted to rip through whatever made it impossible for her to hear him and for him to touch her.

"I don't think I can handle that." She wiped a tear falling down her cheek. "Things are really messed up this time. I always feel like they can't get any worse, but they always do. And this time... I think this is the worst. You're dead, we're all dying, Bonnie won't tell me what to do or what she's planning to do. I feel like there's no way out. I need you here."

Stefan didn't have a heart anymore, yet somehow he still felt it beating faster. He reached for her hand.

Caroline's eyes widened.

"I feel that."

He felt it too. It was merely a brush of his fingers on hers, but it was enough.

* * *

They bring him back.

Stefan didn't believe they could, but they did, and he wasn't going to complain.

Caroline wasn't there, and he didn't waste more than five minutes before looking for her. Mystic Falls was on fire, but he didn't care. Caroline was more important.

Bonnie had told him Caroline was with Elena in the streets, so he ran as fast as he could, even though he still felt weird. Coming back from the dead was no easy task.

He spied her blonde hair after a few minutes, and his breath caught in his throat.

"Caroline." He whispered.

Somehow, she heard him, because she turned to him and locked her eyes with his.

There were no words for the look on her face. Stefan didn't even want to look for them. He ran to her, and felt her arms around him, breathed in her scent and held her tightly. That was all that mattered.

"I knew it." Caroline said. "I knew it, I knew it."

"I'm sorry." Was all Stefan could say.

"No." Caroline shook her head and tightened her grip on him. "You have nothing to apologize for. You're here. You're back, that's what matters, we did it."

Stefan closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair.

It was strange how relieved he felt. He could touch her again, she could hear him, and Stefan never realized how much he needed her like that.

It had been his own special kind of hell to watch her cry and promise to bring him back and not be able to do anything about it. He didn't feel like that with anyone else. He saw Elena cry once, when she thought he wouldn't be back, and he felt the need to comfort her, but it wasn't like this.

People always said you never know what you've got until it's gone. Maybe Stefan was ready to find out.


End file.
